Who am I?

My name is Kirsten Gillibrand and its my honor to represent New York in the U.S. Senate.

A proud New York Democrat, I was born and raised in upstate New York and worked as a lawyer in New York City for several years before moving back home to run for office.

I got my start in politics watching my grandmother, Polly Noonan, organize Albany women to make a difference in their community. Those early experiences taught me the values that guide my public service to this day: hard work, the power of grassroots activism, and the importance of being a voice for the voiceless.

Today, my husband, Jonathan, and I are passing those values on to our two young sons, Theo and Henry. My family is a major inspiration behind my public service career. I don't want to see any mother have to worry that there will not be enough food on the table or access to affordable health care for their sick child.

Why am I running?

After being sworn in to the Senate in January 2009, I was honored to win statewide election in 2010 and am now running for a full 6 year term this November.

Since joining the Senate, Ive spent time in every one of New Yorks 62 counties, meeting with New Yorkers and listening to their concerns. The number one issue on the minds of New Yorkers is the economy. Thats why Ive made it my top priority to bring jobs back to New York, to fight for the middle class and to provide small businesses with the incentives they need to start hiring again.

Over the past two years, as Senator, I helped lead the effort to pass legislation to repeal the Dont Ask Dont Tell policy that banned gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. I was also proud to be the lead Senate sponsor of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act, which provides health care and compensation to the 9/11 first responders and community survivors that are sick with diseases caused by the toxins at Ground Zero.

Throughout my time in Congress, I've also led the way on transparency, becoming the first member of Congress ever to put my official schedule, earmark requests, and financial disclosure reports online. I also voluntarily file my FEC reports on-line to make it easier for voters to see who contributes to my campaigns and I'm continuing to fight for more transparency and accountability in Washington through my sponsorship of the STOCK Act, which was signed by the President earlier this year, to ensure members of Congress have to play by the same exact rules as everyone else. I also vigorously support the DISCLOSE Act and other efforts to undo the harmful effects of the egregious Citizens United decision.

I look forward to continuing to fight for New Yorkers and for our shared progressive values in the U.S. Senate for years to come.

My Goals

I am committed to continuing to work on solutions to create jobs and get our economy moving again for New Yorks middle class families.

In addition, it has become clear that to move our country forward we must fix this broken Congress. I will continue to fight for common sense reforms that will make Congress more transparent and accountable to the American people.

My DFA Values

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My Campaign is People Powered!

Whether its visiting my constituents in-person at Senate at Your Supermarkets or economic roundtables, or interacting online in chat rooms and social media platforms, I have always placed a significant priority on hearing directly from New Yorkers. I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to spend time in all 62 counties in New York State, and participate in DailyKos live chats, Facebook video chats, Twitter townhalls and a Google+ hangout. The feedback I have received has been invaluable and helped me craft a stronger legislative agenda in Washington. I look forward to finding new ways to use technology to connect with the grassroots in the future.

In addition, I'm proud that my campaign has a network of thousands of low dollar grassroots supporters all over the country, as well as a wide network of volunteers right here in New York. As we prepare for my fourth election in 6 years, I've relied on the grassroots every step of the way to power my campaign. And this year is no exception.

About the Endorsement Process

The driving force behind all DFA endorsements is our members. We recognize that all politics is local and that what is considered progressive in Los Angeles may be very different from what's considered progressive in Louisville. For this reason, DFA does not have a litmus test of specific progressive positions for which a candidate must stand. Our endorsement is heavily weighted based on these questions:

• Will the candidate move the progressive movement forward in their community?
• Does the candidate have substantial support from our local members?
• Do the candidate's positions and policies fit into the broader progressive movement?
• Is the campaign people-powered and the candidate working to win?

If you have questions, or want to let us know about a candidate in your neighborhood, please call us at (802) 651-3200 or email us at [email protected] .